Reaching out through art Meena Ahmed

Back in the 1970s, Afroze G. Ali, a Karachi based artist, was so moved by the black and white newspaper reproduction of a painting that she used it as the basis to create her own huge canvas.
Now, more than three decades later, her painting, "The dancing flames" has become a way for her to reach out across the border to people in India.

"The dancing flames" takes its genesis from a painting by the late Soghra Begum (wife of late Ozzir Zuby) who was inspired by a scene from"Shakuntula", a play performed at Shanti Niketen, Calcutta.
As an artist, Afroze's forte is landscaping but is equally trying her hands on calligraphy, following in the footsteps of her elder brother, Syed Ashfaq Ghani. This is the only piece she has done which is different. Inspired to create it after seeing the black and white newspaper photo without knowing its original colours, she enjoys the play of different and vibrant colours in her painting. She feels that her work gives the feel of transformation of musical melody into the colours of waves. In addition to that Afroze plans to write a book on landscaping too.

With the launch of Aman ki Asha, Afroze found a new meaning for her painting, which she retouched a few months ago. And all the way from one end of the huge metropolis to the other end, she came to meet the team of Aman ki Asha lugging along her huge canvas.

Talking to The News, she said she would like it to be presented as a gift to the people of India. She also dreams of being able to visit her hometown, Hyderabad, Deccan and Mumbai to meet her extended family that she last visited almost a decade ago. Besides, she aspires to visit Jaipur for vacation. "I'm very inspired by Indian art and the work produced by the some Indian artists and therefore wants to visit India."

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Pakistani, Indian Rotarians get little hearts beating on both sides This Rotary-Aman ki Asha special page is being published ahead of the Rotary International Zone Institute, Kolkata November 18-20, 2011 at Kolkata, India. At this annual .....more

Yet another sign of hope by Beena Sarwar

The journalists from Mumbai landing in Karachi on Monday (today) will arrive to a warm welcome - and no cell phone roaming. India and Pakistan both .....more

Indian journalists leave for Pakistan News Desk: A 22-member-strong delegation of Mumbai Press Club will leave for Pakistan today (Monday), November 14, which coincides with the birth anniversary of Pandit Ja .....more

Supreme Court expresses shock over Pakistanis in Indian jails, seeks status report Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday expressed shock and dismay over 2 Pakistanis being kept in Jammu and Kashmir prisons for ove .....more

The kindness of strangers: A Schoolboy's story 1946 - 1947: Part II by Iftikhar Malik

The jeep groaned past the Bazar and onto the Convent on the outskirts of Simla, where my cousins Farida and Asma were waiting clutching handbags .....more

Ummeed-e-Milaap: shattering stereotypes, the GenX way: The journey so far Ronnie Philip was the first Indian Hassaan Zafar ever spoke to - and vice versa. Here, the two students from Mumbai and Lahore write about their ground-breaking initia .....more